Something cheesy this way comes
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[The Franchise]
[Sarah]
[Ari EB]
[Elanit]
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[Alon]
[Yutopia]
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "thegameiam" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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11:55 am
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Vay Cay Shun
Today begins something uncommon for me: an actual vacation. I'll leave behind the assorted work headaches, politics, and related rant-worthy material for some time sitting on a beach. Oh hell yeah.
Sadly, Kacy can't come to the cabin, but happily a friend will dog-sit for her.
I've been looking forward to having some "not hurrying" time for a while - I've noticed that entirely too much of my life is spent in an interrupt-based queueing mode, where the thing that's most important right now is what gets worked on, and everything else gets pushed down until that task gets popped. This might be an opportunity to act in a different way.
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Lifting weights is addictive! I've started doing that with a couple of co-workers, and it turns out that I like it a lot. Given that my experience in a gym as a kid was more of the "try not to get stuffed in a locker" variety, it's a bit eye-opening.
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The Franchise will triumphantly return in August! We're playing a street festival as a trio, and after that will start auditions for a fourth.
Also in August, I'll be headed to RTP, NC to take my CCIE R&S lab: hopefully this goes well, because the test is all kinds of crazy expensive, so I have no desire to re-do it.
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  lazy
Current Music: Fielding, "Lampshade"
Tags: music, networking, travel
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02:37 pm
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Geek Rock Hero
Last night, I was faced with an embarrasment of riches.
Possibility #1: go to my synagogue for the Yom Yerushalayim sing-along. Okay, that's good, and definitely worth a Thursday night.
Possibility #2: go to the second annual TPS report manager's meeting in Arlington. I'll need a cover sheet on that, mmkay? Now THIS is gold - beer + office space jokes? What could be better?
Well, Possibility #3: go to The Birchmere and see Jonathan Coulton perform with Chelsea Lee (warning, autoplaying sound file).
Yeah, like that was a real choice - Coulton is my songwriting hero, and I hadn't ever seen him before. He puts on a heck of a show: energetic and funny, and several of my favorites were among the set list: "Betty & Me," "Re:Your Brains," "Code Monkey," and that wonderful closer "Mandelbrot Set." Plus, the Birchmere is a downright pleasant place to hear some music: exellent sound techs, staff who can actually mix a good gin+tonic, and bathrooms which have been cleaned in this decade. Other than Memphis and Nashville being backwards (!) on their mural of "great music cities" outside, what's not to love?
Add the giant benefit of Chelsea Lee: she's really talented, and is apparently local. Great voice, and her instrumental approach was only left a lot of room for her voice to shine.
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  happy
Current Music: Primus - Intruder | Powered by Last.fm
Tags: music
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09:18 pm
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Finishing up
Passover finished awesomely.
We had both dinners out, and while they were both great, the settings and tone were fascinatingly different. One was a large meal - in fact one of the most comfortable large meals I've ever attended. The host is a big singer, and we went around the table singing songs where the names/first lines followed a sequence. That's a neat game (I picked "Oh! Susanna" which gives a hint of how many folks were there) - I've found myself thinking about what songs start with various letters [heck, I'm only missing H, I, O, Q, T, U, X and Y in The Franchise catalogue: sounds like I've got some writing to do...] but that is actually quite hard when you're on the spot.
The other dinner was small and intimate, and there was some surprisingly frank discussion of issues facing couples in the Orthodox community. I appreciated the honest and open sharing a great deal, and I have a new appreciation of the folks who were there. It's not every day that I go home feeling that much closer to my hosts.
In that vein, I think that there are a lot of hidden issues which lie beneath the surface in the community. These aren't communal issues, per se; more like personal issues where people don't realize that others have them as well. The natural modesty and privacy which people have works against their interest when it comes to receiving comfort and occasionally good advice from others. Of course, there are dangers in greater openness as well: lots of well-meaning folks don't have good boundaries, rumors tend to escalate in timbre, and there is the fear that information will be used to harm rather than help.
There are some problems which can't be fixed or solved - they just have to be faced; however, they don't have to be faced alone.
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  thoughtful
Current Music: none
Tags: music, religion
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09:36 pm
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Got a rash
actually, it's more of an abrasion on my left ring finger. You see, it'd been a while since we had band practice, and I prefer the Orthodox grip. I apparently had fallen out of practice enough that I lost my callous, and thus, painful hand follows.
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I saw picketers today.
One thing which I noticed again was that the picketers completely failed one apparently-not-so-obvious concept: people should be able to read your signs. Marching around with a placard full of 1" high words written in yellow on white posterboard is not a recipe for conveying a point. I, for one, have no desire at all to approach protesters to determine what their sign says. kal v'homer (a fortiori) if I'm driving by...
Suggestion: 6" high black block letters.
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  sleepy
Current Music: One Third Dork - On The Bah | Powered by Last.fm
Tags: music, rant
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09:51 pm
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You got Zombies in my Porn!
A while ago, I had wondered about the intersection of the zombie meme with the porn industry. Now I know what happens.
And for what it's worth, that comic (Girls with Slingshots) is fabulous, and worth an archive trawl.
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This is a video which justifies YouTube's existence - Bela Fleck & the Flecktones doing a live version of "Big Country." Wow.
Current Location: home
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, "Big Country"
Tags: comics, music, porn
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07:54 pm
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A few of my favorite things
I have gotten a significant amount of benefit from the NeilMed Sinus Rinse kit - it's a holistic nasal rinse which has enabled me to get off of all of my sinus drugs (with the exception of guifenisen). I had done a version of this for a long time, but the great thing about the neilmed packets is that they don't hurt when snorted: this is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
There is a really neat labrynth in the Georgetown Waterfront Park - basically at 33rd and Water streets. I've walked it, and it's quite calming; however, I find myself getting more relaxed merely from knowing that it exists.
I've complained mightily about network management tools in the past, but one of the most profound tools is of course the Wiki: there is absolutely no better way I've found to do knowledge management than this - the full-text search becomes the key to allowing junior technicians to advance their skills. (note: install this with the option to search words of fewer than four characters, or else acronyms like "BGP" will turn out to be fruitless...)
Pandora has been a godsend to me in terms of discovering new music, and hidden tracks by artists I know that I already like. Flamenco+Electronica+Nerdy+Classic Rock = awesome!
Current Location: home
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Trafik, "Hard to Resist"
Tags: music, networking
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08:55 pm
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Tidbits floating in my brain
I just encountered the song Fight the Good Fight, by Triumph, and that is a hella-good. How in the world did I not know about them in the 80s?
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The recession seems not to exist in the Washington area - I'm aware of openings which pay well without requiring extensive experience, and am finding very few folks expressing interest. Go figure.
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Apparently the public-charter-school with an emphasis in Hebrew is a spreading phenomenon - Orthonomics has the goods about the Englewood, NJ school district. Yay! This can be an important part of the puzzle, becuase the existing way that we're funding this just isn't working.
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I've read a bunch of good books recently: To Say Nothing of the Dog and D.A. by Connie Willis (D.A. is a great young-adult novella very much in the tradition of The Menace from Earth, and TSNotD was fun, but not as good as Doomsday Book); The January Dancer by Michael Flynn (neat storytelling vehicle - it's a medieval approach to a science fiction epic, following the various owners of a specific artifact. Neat!). Lancelot Hogben's Mathematics for the Million is probably the best book on mathematics I've ever read. That could easily be a complete course for a motivated individual or a home-school curriculum.
In graphic novels, Fables vol 11:War & Pieces shows how to make a war story compelling - this is the ultra-mega-mega war story which has been foreshadowed for the past several years, and Willingham doesn't dissapoint. Morrison's All-Star Superman is strangely compelling - I wasn't into the whole pre-Crisis Superman continuity and weirdness: I really liked John Byrne's Man of Steel reboot; but Morrison is applying a modern sensibility to the silver-age concepts, and it works swimmingly. Quitely's artwork doesn't hurt either...
I'm on the edge of abandoning Greg Bear's City at the End of Time - it's just too damn hard to figure out what's going on, and that makes it hard to read.
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I was able to finally get some writing done for work - I need to do a technical analysis of why X technology is better than Y technology, and have the report be something that can be presented to people who don't understand either one, and also serve as a guide for the actual implementation. eek. And after reading Tufte, my whole perspective on how to go about presenting diagrams has completely shifted; and of course, where I would have used a powerpoint before, now I feel compelled to write everything down in paragraphs with footnotes.
Off to walk the dog...
Current Location: home
Current Music: Foo Fighters, "Baker Street"
Tags: books, comics, music, religion, s-f, work
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03:18 am
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Transition
I am proud to live in a country which embraces a peaceful transition of power at least every 8 years. More than that, it's not just that I live in that country; rather my identity as an American is so much a part of my core that while I may sojourn abroad, I would not for an instant consider myself "settled" anywhere else.
I salute our new President: Mr. Obama is the newest occupant of an office which is far greater than any of the individual men who have inhabited it. I know that the office will change him, and the burdens will age him terribly; thus, I pray for the Almighty God to bestow upon him wisdom and endurance such that he may meet the challenges both revealed and hidden.
I also salute our outgoing President: Mr. Bush is a good man, and he shouldered the burdens of protecting the citizens of the US with dignity and aplomb. He leaves office with his successes ignored, and his failures trumpeted to the ends of the earth. I cannot imagine what it must be like to face such a hostile environment, but he did, and continued to labor with an eye toward improving the lot of humanity at home and abroad. He has been a faithful servant, and I hope that one day there is a broad recognition of this among all Americans.
I enjoyed a few parts of the inaugural festivities, although the breathless tone of the media coverage resembles a coronation apotheosis a bit too much for my taste. The Williams arrangement of Simple Gift as performed by some of the best musicians in the world was stunning in its beauty, and was a perfect musical metaphor for the best hope for the Obama presidency: that the separate voices and strains of America can be woven into a whole which far excells that of any of the constituents. I, for one, am curious to see what comes next.
Current Location: home
Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Lemurs, "Break You Down"
Tags: music, politics
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10:04 am
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Barnes & Noble sucks
Why do I say this? On Dec 25th, there wasn't a whole lot for Sarah and I to do, and we had decided to get a couple of things using a gift card. We placed an order for a LoTR Return of the King DVD and Fables TPB #11 at bn.com. Now, this movie is from 2003. The ultra-mega-DVD set was released later, but still, this is hardly a brand-new item. The Fables TPB was released in November.
Yesterday, we realized that we hadn't received anything, and we should take a look - so I checked and the order was set to be mailed on the 13th. Ok.
Today, I received an email that everything was shipped, followed 2 hours later with an email that only the DVD set was shipped, and there is "some delay" in processing the TPB.
Um, why is this hard? And why did we not go with Amazon? No idea for either one, but I know I won't be ordering from bn.com again anytime soon.
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Alon pointed out this little bit of awesomeness:The Taxonomy of Heavy Metal band names (Cobolt RULES!)
Current Location: Herndon, VA
Current Mood:  amused
Current Music: Times New Viking, "Drop Out"
Tags: music, rant
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09:40 am
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Three wholly unrelated items, and one which is related
P and I finally jammed a bit last night - we're going to do some looking for additional musicians, but my fingers sure were out of practice!
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ShrinkWrapped discusses the current war in Gaza from a psychoanalytic perspective. It's an interesting and lucid piece, unlike many things which are written about that portion of the world.
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TJIC performs a fisking on the comments of the SEC official who missed the Madoff fraud. Ouch. His/her comments are pointed and snarky, but all-in-all they are actually true. The official's statements are actually concerning - if taken at face value, they imply that the people charged with regulating these industries (finance) have no actual expertise in the basic tools of the industry (advanced math).
Perhaps one of the takeaways from this episode might be that legal or management acumen (or credentials) do not translate into acument in any other arena - I have seen a lot of folks imply that being a lawyer makes someone better at X (where X != practicing law), and that can lead to some spectacular failures of reason. (the same argument goes for da'as Torah, by the way - Rabbi == "lawyer of halakha" and a Rabbi is possessed of no special wisdom or insight in extra-legal matters by virtue of their title).
TJIC also pointed out the US's FICO score
Current Location: home
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: R.E.M. - Finest Worksong (Mutual Drum Horn mix) | Powered by Last.fm
Tags: music, politics, rant, religion
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06:08 pm
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A weird place to draw a line (may not be safe for work)
According to this slashdot story, a 1976 Scorpions album cover (don't worry, that doesn't include the image) has been judged to be child pornography, and wikipedia is now being filtered by ISPs there for displaying the cover of an album which is available for sale. Warning: the album may be for sale, but that's no reason to think that it would be good.
No word yet on either Nirvana's Nevermind, or on Blind Faith's eponymous album, or on Roger Waters' The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. (these links contain the album cover images)
Interesting that Wikipedia is taking the brunt of this, when Amazon offers the uncensored artwork for sale in its store.
It's even more interesting that this is hardly a timely issue - the album being filtered, Virgin Killer (yeah, that's classy), is older than a substantial number of my friends.
Of all of the possible lines in the sand, how exactly did they pick THIS one? How about a brighter line? For instance, "no nudity on items for sale except through restricted access" would be a much easier and saner description. Of course, works by Michelangelo and Leonardo would both fail this test, as would vast quantities of other classic artwork. I know of no standard which would successfully differentiate between the four album covers mentioned above and the assorted classical images of cherubs which adorn countless museums.
We ought to think this through a bit more.
Current Location: Herndon, VA
Current Music: We Landed on the Moon! - The Night Was Open | Powered by Last.fm
Tags: music, porn
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09:13 am
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Everything Old is New Again
Every now and then, an old song comes up on my iPod, and I am reminded of just how good it is. In this case, Living Colour's big late-80's hit Cult of Personality, penned by guitarist Vernon Reid, was the one which caught my attention. Here are the lyrics - perhaps the je ne sais quoi that caught my ear may be apparent to others as well.
Look into my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the cult of personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality
Neon lights, a nobel prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your t.v.
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you; still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the cult of personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandi
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality
Neon lights a nobel prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set you free
You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be
I'm the cult of personality
Plus ça change, plus ce la même chose, est-ce pas?
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  cynical
Current Music: Rodrigo y Gabriela, "Tamacun"
Tags: music, politics
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11:01 pm
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da'at yahid, part 2
I think that Animals is the best Pink Floyd album.
I find Gov. Palin's Annie Oakley-style public persona quite compelling, and think that both parties should try to look for others who have some of her qualities.
I think that Freeman Dyson is probably the smartest person alive. That's not the controversial part; I think he's so amazing because of how he perceives and writes about beauty in the world.
I think there are a lot of eerie similarities between IPv6 and the OSI stack.
I think The Rock worked best as a heel.
Current Location: home
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Rush, "Jacob's Ladder"
Tags: music, networking, politics, wrestling
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10:25 pm
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Good, bad, and coyote
Good: my cousin Jon reviewed Lingua Franchise yesterday. It's thoughtful, although I have a tinge of sadness that that lineup is no more. More on it later.
Bad: Have you suspected that high-fructose corn syrup was really bad for you? - there seems to be more evidence in this direction.
Coyote: Jeph Jaques delivers the booty call. I've rarely seen it depicted in this pathetic a manner, and yet, it captures the essence perfectly.
For seriously ugly, we have to turn to the intestinal tract, Sarah's to be precise. She had her colonoscopy and endoscopy last Thursday, and the anesthesia didn't work. Let me repeat: the anesthetic didn't work. The level of suck here isn't really fully measurable - just imagine waking up in surgery, and yep, that's about right. Yikes. She's recovering well, and is made of stern stuff, but that's a hell of an way to add insult to injury.
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: Coheed and Cambria - 2113 | Powered by Last.fm
Tags: comics, music, sarah
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02:44 am
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Insomniac posting
This makes me sad. Andreyko's Manhunter (which sounds like it should be gay porn, but isn't) is one of the better superhero comics currently being published. It's unfortunate that DC is not recognizing that the purchasing patterns represent a fundamental shift away from the monthly floppies and toward trade paperbacks. DC does a decent job of publishing the trades, sure, but they should consider moving to a "trade only" publishing approach - once per quarter, say. This book would be an ideal one to use for the experiment.
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My top 5 comic series of all time are:
1) Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. duh. The plotting is so tight that on the tenth read you're still finding new tidbits. This book reshaped the possibilities of graphic novel storytelling, and everything since 1986 has to acknowledge its debt. Inspired Rorshach, by the Franchise
2) Starman, by James Robinson & Tony Harris. Definitely the best superhero book of the 90s. Robinson has an obsessive love of the golden age, and none of the golden age heroes have looked better than they did here. This too is a book not about a superhero, but about a person who happens to be a superhero.
3) Bone, by Jeff Smith. Best. Fantasy. Ever. This is the cultural opposite of film noir - the wide open vistas and often silent storytelling evokes beauty and majesty at every turn. Note: the one-volume edition is REALLY heavy.
4) Fables, by Bill Willingham. The best currently published series, this is a science-fiction-rules take on classic fantasy. Brilliant stuff, and there is biting social commentary in both the types of conflict and the resolutions. Inspired the framing of Storybook Romance, by the Franchise
5) Sandman, by Neil Gaiman. This morphed from a superhero/horror book to Gaiman's masterwork of metaphysics. Inspired Static, by The Franchise.
6) Honorable mention to Girl Genius, by Phil & Kaja Foglio. The best currently-published adventure story. Brilliant stuff, and worth reading online, but supplementing with dead-tree editions. Don't get the black&white omnibus editions - those are cheaper, but the color editions are worth it.
It's safe to say that while the comic connections of songs like Rorshach & Storybook Romance are pretty obvious (to say nothing of Big Bad Wolf or Superhero), not too many folks have picked up on Static. The hint is this: listen to the song, and the go re-read the first trade paperback volume, and it might be a bit more familiar.
Current Location: home
Current Music: none
Tags: comics, music
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08:11 pm
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Packets from Vegas
I've been remiss in describing the sights and wonders of Las Vegas.
While we were there, Sarah's father took us to Cirque du Soleil's O and the Blue Man Group. Wow. O was a relatively late showing (10:30 PDT), so I was less coherent than I otherwise would have been, but I enjoyed the water-based performance, and it brought up a thought for me: I think that Cirque du Soleil is the pinnacle of Greek theatre.
Consider: the performers are completely anonymous, often masked, and highly androgynous. The Cirque performances themselves require a kind of physicality which is shockingly rare - it's "get into this stress position, and hold it carefully for 2 minutes - if you twich, somone drops to her death." The plot of any Cirque show is paper-thin - it's actually more of a theme than a plot, and they are often concerned with crossing the life/death divide.
So anyway, I'm a huge Cirque fan: they exemplify Socrates' second discourse - that Truth can be experienced via Beauty. O did not disappoint, and Sarah thought it was the best of their shows (she's highly taken by water in general).
For me, however, The Blue Man Group really excelled any possible expectation - they are what every performance artist I've ever seen has always dreamed of being, and they weave compelling visuals with compelling rhythym. Wow.
One note: they are shockingly loud - and I say this as a rock musician. Wear earplugs.
I see a clear musical heritage here from Devo to Crash Worship, and I've rarely been more into a stage performance - it's like BIS, except with talent.
So aside from O and BMG, we went to Sababa, and it was delicious and wonderful - thanks to MH for the tip! Rami (the owner) used to run the restaurant in Boston, and he's a character - he'll kibitz with the patrons in a charming Israeli way.
It was also great to see family: Sarah's sister is way pregnant, and this is the last she'll be travelling before she delivers in November. My brother-in-law and I had a blast going to the roller coaster at New York, New York, and then we found an arcade (it's like video gambling without the depression!) and I learned that I *suck* at foosball, but can hold my own at air-hockey... but when it comes to Gorf, I'm untouchable. Yeah, kickin' it old school...
Current Location: home
Current Music: ADHD - Our Time | Scrobbled by Last.fm
Tags: family, kosher, music, travel
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04:56 pm
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A sad passing
A break from politics to mourn the passing of a community institution:
The Grog and Tankard is no more.
(doffs hat)
This adds to the list of places The Franchise closed down: Staccato Lounge, The Old Town Theatre, Continental's electric shows. Maybe the Black Cat should watch out...
Current Location: Herndon, VA
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Soundgarden, "Outshined"
Tags: music
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10:28 am
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A new addition
No, not that.
Sarah conspired with our collective parents to get me an iPod for my birthday, and it just came. I remain entranced by the awesomeness which is apple design - even the box exudes "cool." So following the hostname convention here, it's become "Stormy" (our Mac is "Devvin," so you might be able to figure out the convention... hem mevein, yavin). W00t!
The best part will be being able to escape the crap which is radio in the DC area - 94.7, 101, and 88.5 compete for "passable," and 97.9 is good (and along with Wasserman and Lemberger, totally redeems Baltimore), but the signal is flaky in the places where I tend to drive.
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  excited
Current Music: Geddy Lee, "Home on the Strange"
Tags: apple, music, porn
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05:14 pm
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Pinpricks
I saw my new allergist on Tuesday, and got ~60 pinpricks up and down my arms. They've mostly healed up by now, but I still have that whole "tracks" thing going on... Worst part: the control point, which is subdermal histamine - that gets the "pure" reaction, but no, you can't scratch it for the 15 minutes.
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Remember that loser who faked his resume and interview? It turns out that it's the same guy who claimed to have "written BGP" in an interview with my former manager B. I never thought I'd find a better poser example than his, but having the exact same thing happen to me was pretty funny.
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Finally getting some band practice tonight! yay, rock!
Current Location: Herndon, VA
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Grandma's Mini - Ecstasy | Scrobbled by Last.fm
Tags: music, work
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02:57 pm
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throw down
Ari issued a challenge to me over shabbat:
Who is a bigger chick magnet - my daughter Aliza, or your dog Kacy?
Now, not one to shy away from a challenge, I accepted - I believe that the two of us are going to need to dress in polo shirts & khakis, and walk our respective charges around a couple of neighborhoods (we're totally going to look like a gay couple), and see who wins. Aliza is a mighty cute baby - easily one of the cutest I've ever seen. However, she doesn't wag, so I believe I know who's going to win this.
As a couple of points in my favor already, allow me to point out today's Doonesbury, and of course, Kacy DID have a song called Chick Magnet written for her... (in addition to Lojack and Punk Rock Dog, AND having made a cover appearance on an album, and won "best in show", and even appearing as the "action shot" of her breed on Wikipedia - yeah, Aliza's going to have a heck of a "cute" challenge here...)
As an aside - the lead guitar on Chick Magnet was one of the ones which came out exactly the way I wanted it to: it's hard to get the song from head to fingers if you're not a true virtuoso, but it worked there.
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Painted more steps today. whoo.
Current Location: home
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: none
Tags: comics, house, kacy, music
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